Carton structure



Aug. 18, 1970 K. T. BUTTERY CARTON STRUCTURE Figgd Aug. 6. 1968 A 5 b 321) v 28bL U FIB. Z

- 44b 72b 74b 11 1 L-J/ 28b PIE: 4-

INVENTOR. KENNETH T2 EUTTERY United States Patent 01 ice 3,524,581 CARTON STRUCTURE Kenneth T. Buttery, Kalamazoo, Mich., assignor to Brown Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 6, 1968, Ser. No. 750,721 Int. Cl. B6511 /54 US. Cl. 229-51 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An improved carton which may readily and inexpensively be erected from an integral cut and scored blank is provided with an easy opening cover assembly including a tear strip extending across the cover hood front panel and a cut scored strip disposed upon the carton front wall panel. The tear strip is adhesively secured to the cut scored strip when the carton is in a sealed condition.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Cartons having a flip top cover hingedly connected to the edge of the rear panel which may be erected in a sealed condition and which may be opened by the removal of a tear strip have become increasingly popular; particularly as a container for semi-solid food items such as ice cream. Once the tear strip is removed the carton may be opened for access to some or all of the cartons contents and thereafter the carton may be reclosed for further storage.

Prior art cartons of the type described have heretofore generally utilized a tear strip defined by spaced parallel fracture lines disposed upon the front panel of the cover and adhesively secured to the front wall panel along a separate and distinct glue zone adjacent the tear strip. Such a structure is expensive, difiicult to construct into a carton from an integral blank and requires a relatively large amount of paperboard, much of which is wasted. Further, cartons of this type do not readily lend themselves to use on container sealing equipment.

In US. Letters Pat. No. 3,281,059 issued on Oct, 25, 1966, petitioner and his coinventor disclose a tear strip structure for a carton of the type described wherein the tear strip also functions as an adhesive strip. This container, although satisfactory in many instances requires the exact placement of an adhesive resistant ink along predetermined zones of the cover assembly. The adhesive resistant ink necessitates the use of expensive equipment and the carton so produced is often disfigured as a result of the failure of the ink and the subsequent incomplete peeling of the carton.

Thus, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide a top opening reclosable carton which may be formed from an integral blank and which is sealed by means of a detachable adhesive strip aflixing the cover to the front of the panel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These and other objects and advantages are attained in accordance with the present invention by providing a carton which is formed from an integral blank having panels defining a bottom member, a front wall member hingedly connected to one edge of the bottom member, a rear wall member hingedly connected to the other edge of the bottom member, and end flaps hingedly connected to the ends of said members. A cover is provided which is hingedly connected to the upper edge of the rear wall member. The cover is provided with cover flaps comprising end wall panels and a front wall panel for the cover hood. The cover hood front wall panel is provided at its ends with 3,524,581 Patented Aug. 18, 1970 end flaps which are adhesively affixed to the cover hood end wall panels. Detachable means is provided at the free edge of the cover hood front wall panel to the front wall member comprising a detachable tear strip adhesively affixed to the front wall member. The front wall member is provided with spaced cut scored lines extending substantially the entire length thereof and the tear strip is disposed entirely within the zone defined by the cut score lines. Transverse cut score lines are provided at the terminal points of the longitudinal lines.

As a further provision of the carton of the present invention the spaced cut scored lines extend for some small distance into at least one of the front wall end flaps thus defining a tab member which will tend to peel away from the remainder of the end flap for the depth of the cut. The carton may thus be easily and conveniently opened by grasping the tab and readily and cleanly removing with a single tearing action the tear strip and the underlying front wall panel zone defined by the spaced cut score lines.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blank cut and scored for assembling a carton according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a partially erected blank with the cover hood adhesively affixed to the carton front panel;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a carton with the end panels partially erected;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the completely erected and sealed carton; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the carton of FIG. 4 after the tear strip has been removed and the cover opened.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Reference is now made to the drawings wherein the same numbers are used to refer to corresponding parts throughout and wherein areas having adhesive applied thereto are indicated by stippled shading. The inner surface of an integral blank 8 is depicted in FIG. 1 as comprising a bottom panel 10 having front and rear wall panels 12 and 14 hingedly connected thereto along score lines 16 and 18 respectively. A cover top panel 20 is hingedly connected to the rear wall panel 14 along score line 22 and a cover hood front panel 24 is hingedly connected to the cover top panel 20 along score line 26.

The bottom panel 10 is provided at its ends with inner end wall flaps 28a and 28b hingedly connected thereto along score line 30. The front wall member 12 is provided at its ends with front wall outer end flaps 32a and 32b hingedly connected thereto along score line 34; and the rear wall panel 14 is provided at its ends with rear wall outer end flaps 36a and 36b hingedly connected there to along score lines 38a and 38b.

The cover panel 20 is provided at its ends with flaps 40a and 40b which form the cover hood end wall panels and are connected thereto along score lines 42a and 42b. Adhesive panels 44a and 44b are connected to the cover hood end panels 40 along severance or fracture line 46a and 46b which in the present embodiment comprises spaced paralleled interrupted slits connected by transverse slits. A similar fracture line 48 is provided at the forward edge of the cover hood front panel 24 and connects a tear strip 50 to the cover hood front panel. One end 52 of tear strip 50 defines a tap or graspable portion and to this end the fracturing of fracture line 48 is preestablished at indent 54. Flaps 56 extend from the sides of the cover hood front panel 24 and are connected thereto along score line 58. A cut score 60 extends across the outer surface of the front wall panel 12 and includes a forward portion 62 which extends for some small distance into the front wall outer end flap 32a.

Cut score strip 60 is defined by spaced Parallel cut score lines 64 and 66 disposed along the outer surface of the front wall panel 12, a transverse cut score 68 disposed along score line 34 and extending between cut scores 64 and 66, and a forward portion 62 defined by transverse cut score line 70 disposed with the front outer end flap 32a. The cut score lines penetrate the outer surface of the Wall panel and extend only partially into the thickness of the carton blank.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2 for purposes of describing the assembly of the carton of the present invention. Thus, as a first step, the carton blank 8 is folded along score line 18 with the inner surfaces of the blank facing each other. The cover hood front panel 24 is then folded over the free edge of the front wall member 12 and tear strip 50 is adhesively secured to the front wall member 12 within the confines of cut score strip 60. In this folded condition the partially erected blank occupies very little area and may thus be conveniently shipped to packagers for filling and sealing.

To further erect the carton for filling, the partially erected folded carton is then squared up, as on a conventional squaring machine as depicted in FIG. 3. One end of the carton is then closed by first folding in the inner end wall flap 28a along score line 30a. The rear wall outer end flap 36a and front wall outer end flap 32 are then folded in with the front wall flap 32a overlapping the rear wall flap 36a. The contour provided by the recessed edge 72a permits the terminal edge 74a of the rear wall outer end flaps 36a to clear the adhesive area 76 on the inner surface of the outer flap 32a. Flap 56 is then folded over into the depressed area 7811 defined by the embossed lines 80a of the front wall outer end flap 32a. As a final step in erecting the blank the cover hood end wall panel 40a is folded over and the adhesive area 44a is secured to the end wall flap 36a and the adhesive area 82 is secured to hood flaps 56. The sealed carton 84 is depicted in FIG. 4.

The carton 84 may be opened by grasping tab 52 and removing the tear strip 50. The outer layer of the cut score 60 will remain affixed to tear strip 50 and will peel away from the front panel 12. The cover may then be lifted causing the fracturing of severance line 46. Adhesive area 44a serves to secure the end flaps 32a and 36a to each other while adhesive area 82a secures the cover hood front and end panels one to the other.

I claim:

1. A carton formed of an integral blank cut and scored to provide a bottom member, a front wall member hingedly connected to one edge of said bottom member, a rear wall member hingedly connected to the other edge of said bottom member, and end flaps hingedly connected to the ends of said members, a cover hingedly connected to the upper edge of said rear wall member provided with cover flaps comprising cover hood end wall panels and a cover hood front wall panel, each of said hood panels having at least one free edge, and detachable means adhesively aifixing said cover hood front wall panel to said front wall member, said detachable means including a tear strip having a continuous coating of an adhesive over a substantial portion of the inner surface thereof extending longitudinally across said cover hood front panel from a fracture line extending across said panel to a free edge, said tear strip engaging the outer surface of said front wall member within the confines of an area defined by cut score lines penetrating the outer surface of said front member but extending only partially into the thickness thereof, said engaging area comprising two spaced apart parallel cut score lines longitudinally extending across the outer surface of said front wall member and extending for some distance into at least one of the end flaps hingedly connected to said member, the portion of said engaging area within said end flap defining a pull tap adapted to facilitate the grasping of said tear strip, whereby clean separation of said tear strip at said engaging area is facilitated when said tear strip is removed.

2. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein said tear strip is connected to said cover hood front wall panel along a severance line which comprises a plurality of spaced parallel interrupted slits connected by a second plurality of parallel transverse slits.

3. An integral blank for forming a carton cut and scored to define a bottom member, a front wall member hingedly connected to one edge of said bottom member, a rear Wall member hingedly connected to the other edge of said bottom member and end flaps hingedly connected to said members, a cover hingedly connected to the upper edge of said rear wall member and provided with cover flaps comprising cover hood end wall panels and a cover hood front wall panel, and detachable means adapted to adhesively aflix said cover hood front wall panel to said front Wall member comprising a tear strip adapted to be aflixed to a peelable area of the outer surface of said front wall member defined by two spaced apart, parallel cut score lines longitudinally extending across the outer surface of said front Wall member and extending for some distance into at least one of the end flaps hingedly connected to said member, the portion of said area within said end flap defining a pull tab adapted to facilitate the grasping of said tear strip.

4. The invention in accordance with claim 3 wherein said tear strip is connected to said cover hood front panel along a severance line which comprises a plurality of spaced parallel interrupted slits connected by a second plurality of parallel transverse slits.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,281,054

DAVID M, BOC KENEK, Primary Examiner 

